can I get away with one more fart joke here?

George Carlin. May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008.

"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."

My first experience with George Carlin was his role as Rufus in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure." That movie came out in 1989, which made me a whopping 8-years-old at the time. I loved that flick and probably watched it almost daily as a child. You could imagine my suprise when I saw my dad watching a George Carlin comedy special on TV one night. There was the noble and wise Rufus, who I'd only known from his guidance of the two most excellent Wyld Stallions, spitting out curse words and making my father laugh his ass off.

Over the years, I've grown to appreciate the comedic stylings of Carlin. I'd never call myself a devoted fan, but if I had to pick a favorite comedian he would probably be at the top of the list. He was my dad's favorite and my younger brother's favorite as well. When I heard about his death, they were the first two people I called. Both were just as bummed out as I was.

In my opinion, the beauty of Carlin lies in his ability to seamlessly switch from dick and fart jokes to thought-provoking social commentary. And it's all hilarious. Maybe it's because I feel like we shared many similar beliefs and I could relate to what he rambled about, but George Carlin spoke to me like no other comedian has. Like I said, I've never really been a devoted enough fan to go and see him perform or purchase any of his releases, but anytime I'd see a George Carlin special on HBO during the middle of the night, I'd be watching; and laughing.

Always have, always will. Rest in peace, George.

"You know what some people don't talk about in public anymore? Pussy farts."

living on the edge fighting crime spinning webs

Two of my favorite things in the whole world are cartoons and Spider-Man, which sort of makes Marvel's various Spider-Man animated projects something that I am automatically interested in by default. In fact, you can blame the cartoon version of the web-head for my lack of updates this week.

Toon Disney has been showing the 1990s version of Fox's Spider-Man animated series on their "Jetix" block of programming. I currently have close to 50 episodes of the show on my DVR and I have spent far too much time lately watching them late at night. Without a doubt, this version of Spidey stands tall as the finest cartoon adaptation of Peter Parker's adventures.


In the past week alone, I've enjoyed watching Spidey save Mary Jane from her demented ex-boyfriend Hydro-Man, Cleatus Kassidy becoming Carnage thanks to the evil Dormammu, the formation of the "Insidious Six" and the X-Men teaming with our friendly neighborhood hero. I've pretty much been in cartoon heaven.


One of the best things about this series is the incredible amount of characters that are used. I've got quite a ways to go before completing the entire run, but I've seen classic Spidey villians like the Shocker, Rhino, The Scorpion and Mysterio along with allies like the X-Men, the Black Cat, Daredevil and The Punisher. Virtually every corner of the Marvel Universe has been touched in this cartoon, which is part of what makes it so amazingly enjoyable.


Sure, sometimes the story strays a bit too far from what we have come to know and love in the comic books. Carnage, pictured above, gets his symbiote as a gift from Baron Mordo and Dormammu in order to destroy Spider-Man and bring Dormammu into our world. Yeah, it didn't happen that way in the comics but you know what? It works perfectly in this cartoon. I'm all for taking creative liberties here and there in order to tell a fun, well-thought-out story. Then again, that is probably the reason I'm enjoying the "Brand New Day" of Amazing Spider-Man currently being produced by Marvel comics.

As far as current animated Spidey adventures, you can also count me among the fans of the CW's "Spectacular Spider-Man" animated series. I actually find it to be a breath of fresh air and it reminds me a lot of the old Fox series. MTV's computer-animated Spidey series from a few years back just didn't resonate with me. It was alright, but it felt too much like something targeted to the casual fan. Not this new series though, it definitely packs and old-school feel and can be enjoyable for both newbies to the Spidey world and faithful followers of the web-slinger.


The first season just wrapped up and I'm anxious to see what is going to happen the next time around. I already have the DVD on my "to-buy" list, whenever it gets released as a box-set. The whole thing was just fun, it felt like a combination of the classic Spider-Man stories and the more recent "Ultimate" version of the character. Things have changed from the comics, but it all works within the context of the series. Harry Osborn was revealed to be the Green Goblin, despite evidence pointing towards his father, Norman, who as most everyone knows is the original Green Goblin in just about every other Spidey story ever created. I still have my theories about his involvement with the Green Goblin in this cartoon, I'm thinking he may have somehow set his own son up. We'll just have to wait for season two to come out.


"Jetix" has also been airing episodes of "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" a few nights a week. I have only caught a few of them so far, but the series is a fun little nostalgia trip back to the 1980s featuring Spidey teaming up with Iceman and a female mutant character named Firestar, created just for the show, to take on his various enemies. Though entertaining, it doesn't come close to the overall greatness of the other Spider-Man cartoons I've rambled on and on about.


DRG4's Marvel Cartoon Pages helped me out a ton with some of the research and pictures used in this blog entry. Do yourself a favor and check out the Web site. You'll find everything you have ever wanted to know about Marvel's classic cartoons from the 90s.

hulk smash expectations.

Wow, 3 entries down and two of them focus on the Hulk.

To celebrate Father's Day yesterday, I took my dad to go see "The Incredible Hulk." We were both thoroughly impressed with director Louis Leterrier's interpretation of Marvel's not-so-jolly green giant. Being the total comic book nerd that I am, I geeked out willfully at the numerous easter eggs and in-jokes. My pops enjoyed the special effects, the action and the talents of Liv Tyler as Betty Ross. He also compared General Thunderbolt Ross to J. Jonah Jameson of Spider-Man fame, saying that they were both meglomanical pricks, or something along those lines. There may be some spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution if you haven't seen the film.


You can count me among the few who will admit to enjoying Ang Lee's 2003 "Hulk" film. I didn't mind waiting so long to see the strongest one there is, the origin was done well and once the action kicked in, things were pretty intense. The film had it's problems, it nearly fizzled at it's conclusion with the father/son showdown, but overall it wasn't as god-awful and most made it out to be. The CGI Hulk looked great, as pictured above, and Bana's portrayal of Bruce Banner was solid. Plus, it had an absolutely amazing cast with Sam Elliot as General Ross and Jennifer Connolly as his beautiful daughter and the apple of Bruce Banner's eye. I would have rather seen those folks reprise their roles. William Hurt and Liv Tyler were good but not as effective as their predecesors. Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner this time around and knocks it out of the park. Not to knock on Eric Bana, who did a fine job in the last film, but Norton really embraced the role and it showed.

As ignored as the 2003 film was in this new take, at least they still picked up pretty closely to where Lee's flick ended off. Though this is not really a sequel in the traditional sense of the word, "The Incredible Hulk" only touches on the origin of it's title character and picks up with Banner on the run in Brazil, desperately trying to hold the beast within him at bay.


He fails, obviously, and the Hulk is back and looking better than ever. I think the CGI Hulk looks even better this time around, as technology has only advanced in the 5years since the last film. The plot revolves around Banner running from the U.S. government and General Ross, who is determined to harness whatever is inside of Bruce and use it as a military weapon. Norton does a great job of showing us just how difficult it is for Banner to remain on the run while desperately searching for a way to cure himself of the Hulk. To make matters worse, Thunderbolt uses an experimental super-soldier serum that has been "on ice" since World War II on a Russian born, English bred soldier named Emil Blonsky.

Tim Roth, who just so happens to be one of my favorite actors, nails Blonsky. His character is driven to always improve, no matter what the cost. His determination to be a great soldier eventually turns him into The Abomination. Of course, Blonsky can't become this massive beast all by himself. He ends up gaining the aid of a biologist by the name of Samuel Sterns, who had been trying to help Banner with his Hulk problem. I found all of this to be very cool considering that Sterns eventually becomes one of the Hulk's deadliest foes, The Leader, in the comics. We only see the beginnings of this in the silver screen version "The Incredible Hulk," leaving plenty of room for yet another Hulk flick.


A lot of people complained about how the Abomination looked in the photos and trailers prior to the movie's release. I felt sketchy about it myself, but after watching the movie I must admit being impressed with the new-look monster. His appearance wasn't a huge change and he certainly lived up to his name. And again, the character was built-up incredibly well by Roth which only made the eventual transformation that much more satisfying.

It's a bummer that the end of this movie was more or less shown in the commercials. General Ross drowns his sorrows at a bar when who else but Tony Stark shows up and tells him that "we are putting together a team." As totally amazing as that is, the fact that it was shown all over the advertising for this film took away from the scene's impact. Regardless, this collective Marvel movie-verse is showing tons of potential thusfar as we build towards "The Avengers" movie. I can only hope that we see a group of Avengers trying to stop a rampaging Hulk on the big screen.

Was it as good as Iron Man? I'm not sure it was. But fear not true believers, it was still a smashing good time at the movies.

run to the hills.

The seventh and final issue of DC Comics "Salvation Run" mini-series came out this past Wednesday. I got around to reading it the other night and the only thing it made me think was how great the series could have been if it had been done right.


"Salvation Run" is all about the villians of the DCU. They have been captured and imprisoned on a far away planet, which also just so happens to be filled with monsters and creatures hell bent on destroying anything that steps foot on their world. We're talking basically every single DC rogue, everyone from the upper-echelon types like Lex Luthor and Two-Face to C-listers like Effigy and Skorpio. The early parts of this 7-issue run focuses on how this happened and latter issues deal with how the bad guys are going to get out of dodge.

Sounds like an awesome concept, I know. When this thing was announced, I was all sorts of excited. I really dug "Villians United" and the "Secret Six" mini-series and figured this would build on those stories a bit more than it actually did. I hoped to see a bit more of the focus on some of the lesser-known baddies those stories made me like to much. The original creative team of Bill Willingham and Sean Chen didn't last long, as Willingham had to take a leave due to an illness. Matthew Sturges took over the writing duties and sadly, the momentum of the series really slowed down. As much as it sucks to say it, the delays really hampered this book in the long run.

By the time this series wrapped up, "Final Crisis" had already begun. The Martian Manhunter was killed, yet at the end of "Salvation Run" we see him trapped on the prison planet. It kind of makes it hard to feel bad for good ol' J'onn when you already know he is going to get back to Earth somehow, only to be killed by Libra in the beginning of Grant Morrison's "Final Crisis." You knew going into the last issue that somehow the villians would get back to Earth and everything would be peachy keen, mainly because we had seen some of them in other books already. The continuity conflicts definitely took something away from my enjoyment of this series.


I may be coming off more negatively than I really want to. The series had some really cool moments. Who hasn't been waiting to see The Joker vs. Lex Luthor? Vandal Savage was great, as he usually is. A handful of villians bit the dust, including Solomon Grundy once again. The reveals about who set the whole thing up were thought-provoking and the conclusion fit the story perfectly. "Salvation Run" wasn't a bad book at all, but it definitely would have been so much more. I may have to go back and read the whole thing over again sometime, perhaps that will improve my appreciation for what the folks at DC were trying to do.

Then again, maybe I'm just pissed that they killed Grundy, again.

numero uno.

Welcome to the very first post here at Cyborg Midnight. I'll give you a dollar if you can figure out what that title references. So, seeing as this is my very first entry to this blog, I might as well get the introductory stuff out of the way. My name is Ken, I'm 26-years-old and I'm a nerd.

There ya go. You may find yourself asking, well Ken, what is this thing all about? Cyborg Midnight is simply a place for me to ramble on about my interests. So if you're not into comic books, punk rock and/or horror movies, chances are this isn't the place for you. With that being said, I hope whoever happens to stumble upon this dark little corner of the Internet enjoys what they find here. Chances are, you're going to find reviews on comics, movies and music. You'll probably also find some ramblings about those very same subjects. Who knows what else?



I got my hands on a copy of the King Size Hulk special earlier this week. My copy has the Frank Cho cover, pictured above, but I opened it up to reveal to Art Adams variant behind it. I thought I had a misprinted copy with both covers, and no lie, I geeked out a little bit at having this neat little collectible. I hopped online to figure out if this was a mistake or not. Turns out that Marvel did this with every copy of the book. If the Cho cover was the first one, you would get the Adams one when you opened it and vise versa. Yeah, I felt totally let down.

The story, on the other hand, didn't really let me down. I've only read the Red Hulk half of the book so far, the reprints are up next and I'm pretty stoked that one of the included issues is Wolverine's first appearance. Somehow, I've never read that comic and I can't wait to. But anyways, the first half of the book was fun stuff.

Three stories, all written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Art Adams, Frank Cho and Herb Trimpe. The Adams illustrated story opens this beast off, showing the Red Hulk taking down the Wendigo. Cho does his best to outshine Adam's excellence with a story about She-Hulk's encounter with the Red Hulk. Trimpe drills it home with a tale of the Abomination and his demise at the hands of the big, mean, red killing machine. None of the stories are particulary essential to the reader's understanding of what is happening in the monthly Hulk book, but they were still well drawn, fun reads that helped to enhance the storyline.



I don't get why so many folks bash on Loeb's Red Hulk story. We're only a few issues in and people are calling it the worst thing to happen to the Hulk since Peter David left the book. Everyone is so up in arms that it ruined everything Greg Pak was building with Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, but I say give it a chance. Like I said, we're only a few issues into the story that Loeb has planned. Future issues include the upcoming Red Hulk vs. Green Hulk slugfest and then Thor gets in on the action. How does that not sound fun? Add some great artwork by Ed McGuinness and you've sold me. Sure, it's not a smart as Pak's Hulk and it reads like a Michael Bay summer blockbuster at times but god damn it, it's the Hulk smashing stuff. In the end, that works for me.


As this first post comes to an end, so does the album "Upstairs/Downstairs" by The Ergs! These guys are absolutely great and they are easily one of my favorite current bands. What is not to love about three unabashadley nerdy guys playing pop-punk songs about girls and whatnot? I got a chance to catch them live for the first time about a month ago and it was one of the finest live performances I had seen in a long while. I celebrate their entire catalog, much like Bob Slydell once so eloquently stated about Michael Bolton.

That's it for this time. I plan on doing this a few times a week, so check back sometime soon. Next time I plan on reviewing DC Comics "Salvation Run" mini-series and who knows what else.